The global demand for freshwater continues to place significant pressure on available water resources. Wastewater reclamation and reuse as well as desalination are the only opportunities to increase the supply of clean water and are therefore essential to meet the demand for freshwater sources. Domestic wastewater in particular represents a viable water source for many cities whereas desalination is limited to those near the coast. Conventional domestic wastewater treatment processes based on activated sludge (AS) are energy intensive (˜0.6 kWh/m3) and have a large footprint. Considering the fact that domestic wastewater is estimated to contain approximately 2 kWh/m, an opportunity exists to offset energy consumption for wastewater treatment through recovery of the inherent energy.
Bioelectrochemical systems use bacteria as biological catalysts to drive electrochemical reactions at the surface of one or both electrodes. These systems offer an alternative approach to conventional aerobic wastewater treatment as they do not require energy intensive aeration to promote biological degradation of the organic material in the wastewater. See PCT Publication No. WO 2001/038453, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.